One of Those Rare Warm-up Matches!!

Top 2 ODI teams- Australia and India, playing their first world cup warm up match. It was an inconsequential game, but one definitely didn’t expect this type of batting performance from the no 2 ODI side in the world. My God! What a Collapse! 54/1 to 138/8. It was such a disappointment for a huge home crowd of Chinnaswamy Stadium. Some later heroics from Pathan, Ashwin and Nehra saw India crawl past 200 but the first 6-7 batsmen failed big time.

Dhoni mentioned at the toss that Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer won't take part in this warm up game, so it was upto Sehwag and Gambhir to get off to a nice start. Sehwag started cautiously capitalising on his statement to build the innings, but couldn’t last long. Gambhir fell to a beauty from Bollinger. Kohli and Sehwag tried unsuccessfully to build a partnership. One could see a terrible communication between the two resulting in so many mix-ups; luckily they got away with it. Kohli holed out in the gully to Mike Hussey and then ‘the great Indian collapse’ started. Yuvraj came in and got out. Sehwag and Dhoni got a good partnership going but that too for a very short period of time. Then Dhoni dragged a Hastings delivery onto the stumps. 8 balls later Sehwag fell after a well-made fifty. Then Raina, Bhajji and Chawla got out within 2.2 overs. Pathan and R Ashwin put up 49 runs together. Pathan looked his usual self stroking the ball all around the park before launching two huge sixes in a David Hussey over but fell in the same over trying to go for the third one. The last wicket added 27 valuable runs and the Indian Innings came to an end on 214, a total which never looked to be a challenging one for this Aussie batting lineup. But the game was just half finished.

Watson started the Aussie reply in style hitting shots all over the park. Due to his cameo, Australia were off to a flying start going 6-7 rpo. But it was India’s best fast bowler tonight- S Srisanth who got the break-through for India. Watson, trying to heave the ball over mid-off, couldn’t clear Piyush Chawla who moved quickly to his left to take a sharp catch. Australia were 51/1 after 7.5 overs at this stage. In came Ponting who looked set to take his team to victory. His partnership with Paine was very crucial as one more wicket at this stage could have made Indian comeback in the game a lot easier. They were going along pretty nicely before the spinners were introduced. The trio of Chawla, Ashwin and Bhajji along with a part timer in Yuvi began to slow down the pace of the Aussie innings. Batsmen felt the need to accelerate the run rate for there was no boundary hit for 50-odd consecutive deliveries. This brought the fall of Tim Paine who fell trying to clear long-on. His wicket opened the gates for the Indians in the game. In the next over, Chawla got rid of Clarke (0) who dragged the ball onto his stumps. This wasn’t going to satisfy Piyush Chawla who was in the mood for securing his place in the final 11 for the world cup matches. He came back in the 29^th over to get the wickets of White and Hussey off successive deliveries, but sadly couldn’t get a hat-trick. This didn’t end here for Chawla as in his next over he got Hastings who edged to Kohli at slips. Aus 148/6 in 30.4 overs. In the meantime Ponting completed a well-made fifty but sadly kept losing partners at the other end. Johnson showed some resistance at the end but Bhajji and Ashwin came and ended the Australian innings on 176 with some quick wickets.

India were out of the game till the half way stage in the second innings. But a dramatic collapse of the Aussie middle and lower order, caused by the Indian spinners, cost Aussies this warm-up match. Piyush Chawla bowled like a dream and was very well supported by Harbhajan and Ashwin. Ashwin was getting turn and bounce from the pitch big time. It was really great to see India defend a small total quite ably. No doubt, pitch assisted their spinners but it was the skill of the spinners and some questionable shot-selection from the Australian batsmen that brought about the Indian win. India must keep this winning momentum going and keep complacency at bay.

Cheers!! J

Once Again It is Now or Next Time

The big game of cricket is back again with a bang, ICC Cricket World Cup- this time on Indian soil. Australia- the team having won the world cup title 4 times, 3 in a row. The rest of the teams will also look forward to cherishing their dream to win the biggest event of Cricket.

The time has come to wash out the heart-breaking memories of 2007 West Indies World Cup and create some new ones which the whole nation will cherish for a really really long time. Let this cricket crazy nation be given the world cup trophy that has eluded it for the last 28 years. Five world cups!!!! India is without the 50 over world cup for 28 years now. let the wait be over this time!!

This world cup is special for Team India in many ways.

We have a strong side in all departments of the game. We have a 'calm and cool' captain in Dhoni whose captaincy is widely admired. Although his batting has not shown the sparks of his original game lately, his reputation as a 'hit hard in the big games' batsman still makes us have faith in him. Then there are our openers- Tendulkar and Sehwag. What can one say about Tendulkar's form in last one and a half year? Challenging situations bring out the best in him. So if he continues this form in the world cup then we are in for a real treat of some breath-taking strokeplay and a masterclass from the master himself. Sehwag has already stated that he wants to bat for 50 overs and if this happens then no total is challenging for the Team India. 400 run mark will look so much easier to achieve if he is there till the last ball of the innings.

Then comes Mr Gambhir. He displayed the versatility in his batting in the NZ one day series which India won 5-0 under his captaincy. An opener or a one-down, Gambhir is a threat to any team in any situation. Virat Kohli is a real find for India. His all-round skill in the field (batting, bowling and fielding) makes him a true legend in the making. Yuvraj Singh is best suited for the spot of no 4. He can pace the innings according to the need of the hour. He can rotate the strike as well as hit huge sixes to accelerate the pace of the innings. He hits form in this world cup and this might just be his tournament. Raina gives solidity to the middle order. His improvement as a game changer or a finisher is tremendous. Then follows Dhoni. One might be concerned about his batting form seeing his last few innigns did not reflect the kind of a batsman he is but let's not forget that we are talking about a batsman who has been consistently among the Top-3 ODI batsmen in the world for last 3 years. Yusuf Pathan's tons in those NZ and SA matches were such a treat to watch. Let's not say that he is an all-rounder India was so desperately looking for. Let's just say that he is a lower order hard hitting batsman who can, on his day, destroy any lineup with his slow bowling as well.

Harbhajan's bowling economy rate in ODIs is impeccable. He also can finish the innings in style with a bat in his hands. Who can forget the great six that won us a nail biting match against the arch rivals Pakistan in Asia Cup last year!! Zaheer Khan's mere presence in the team boosts the confidence of the other bowlers. This was clearly the case in the 1st and 2nd test against SA in December 2010. His intelligent bowling really makes him the spearhead of the Indian bowling attack. Ashish Nehra is, I think, like a lottery ticket. On his day he can be as dangerous as any swing bowler in the world but if it is not his day then the opposing batsmen simply dispatch him all over the park. S Srisanth just needs to stay focused on the game and he is a very good bowler who can swing the ball both ways. Munaf Patel brings solidity to the Indian pace attack. Piyush Chawla is a very handy bowler to have in the lineup especially in Indian conditions. R Ashwin is a very clever bowler who adjusts to the conditions quickly.

So this team consists of a number of match winners who can win matches on their own. But Cricket is a team game and all the players should click as a unit to win the World Cup. This team has shown in last two years that they are capable of doing the same. Only one thing is required and that is to keep their nerves in home conditions, in front of huge Indian crowd. If the team overcomes their 'big stage fright', there is every chance of this Indian team winning the world cup.

For years Indian Cricket fans have been consoling themselves saying, "Chalo yaar, koi nahi.. Next time we will definitely win the Cup." Let it be this time only. Also it would really be a fitting farewell to a man who has almost everything to his name in the record books, who has been trying his best for years to be a part of a World Cup winning team and who has devoted last 21 years of his life to Cricket!!

Cheers! :)

Hello

Hello Everyone... This is my first post... It has been a very long time since I had opened my Blogger account... Actually today I was editing my Google Accounts Settings and found the Blogger logo listed in my "Google Services". Firstly I searched for the "Remove Profile" option but couldn't find it. So I was about to leave it as it was and close the tab when I thought ki chalo yaar, writing my first post on my 'two and a half year-old' Blog wasn't a bad idea after all.

So I welcome you all to my Blog and hope I will be able to update the same as soon as possible.

cheers. :)